Box of Chocolate

A box of chocolate from a former Algebra 2 and current AP Statistics students. Thanks Marlene.  Happy Holidays to Everyone!

Tragedy in Newtown, CT

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Today is a very sad day as tragedy struck an elementary school in Connecticut.  My heart goes out to the families in this town.  At this time, the report is that 20 young students and 6 adults have lost their lives.  It is a heart breaking event.  I am humbled by the story of one teacher, Kaitlin Roig, at Sandy Hook Elementary who continued to protect her students under the most stressful circumstance.  She rushed her students into a small bathroom, locked the door, and told them that she loved them.  She said that if they were to die, she wanted the children to know that they were loved.  When the police arrived, she refused to open the door to avoid a potential trickery by a gunman.  She told the police to get the keys themselves, the teacher and her students were eventually rescued to safety.

Dice Collection (#12)

A 20-sided die inside a clear 20-sided die (icosahedron). Pretty cool.
(From CMC 2012.)

New Tee

Two of my private tutees are top ranked junior national level badminton players.  They just returned from a tournament in the East Coast with this gift for me.  Thanks Krista & Jamie!

Dice Collection (#11)

Chinese character dice! Way to represent. I have only two left. I gave one to each of my four private tutees: Krista, Jamie, Curtis, and Tim.
(From CMC 2012.)

CMC 2012

It was another fulfilling learning experience at this year's CMC math conference in Palm Springs.  On Friday morning, I attended two AP Stats sessions by Starnes.  While the first session involved much pure math at a high level, the second session provide me with more inference activities that I may use for my stats class.  I picked up many freebies at the lunch meeting for AP Stats teachers.  After lunch, I attended an engaging TI-Nspire session by Reardon.  The last session was by Cheng, who provided many ideas on re-booting our instructions to meet the new testing challenges.  As usual, my brian was fried by the evening.  To clear my mind, I ran 5 miles up and down the Palm Springs downtown.

On Sunday morning, I attended an Algebra session on using myths and fables to engage students.  Presenters Wolf and Maggiore provided scenarios more student participation.  The second session was an TI-Nspire activity by Godbold for AP Statistics.  Lastly, I attending Lim's math in TV and movies session.  It was a more relaxing way to end my attendance at this year's CMC conference.  As always, I strive to bring back what I can to benefit my students.

PS - 100% of the cost of this trip came out of my own expense.  I took a personal day off to attend Friday's sessions.

Hair Care

AP Stats student Adrian M. gave me this before my trip to the Palm Springs math conference. Thanks for the shampoo...I guess. =)

Bruin Open 2012

In my feeble attempt to balance my teaching and personal life, I've been trying to be more active over the past year.  A few weeks ago, I played in a badminton tournament at UCLA.  I have trained as hard as I could, with whatever time that I have given that I'm a 33 year old full-time teacher and part-time tutor.  I played well.  On Saturday, I won two rounds against two younger less experienced opponents.  On Sunday, I had to face two younger skillful players in the quarter and semi-finals.  They have been trained by coaches who were former Olympians.  I was fortunate to win in both close hard fought contests.  In the final, I lost to another young player.  I'm a little disappointed in losing the finals match, but am grateful that I played a good tournament and making it to the finals in a singles event for the first time.  I showed my silver medal to my students the following week and they were all very happy for me.  I strive to keep pushing myself physically as long as my body holds up.

Using Prezi & Other Web Tools (2012)

Prezi and Other Tech Tools 2012 on Prezi

Still Tutoring

A little less than a year ago, a friend at the badminton club asked if I would tutor his daughter in Geometry.  I had just finished graduate school and have stood firm on not coaching after school, so I agreed.  Just an hour a week with a smart, motivated, and respectful middle schooler.  It is at times the most fulfilling hour of teaching of my week.  Over the summer, her younger sister joined in to our sessions. We met twice a week, often on benches that are right next to the badminton courts where we play. Our sessions have continued as our school years began.  Another badminton friend asked if I would help her son prepare for his SATs.  I also agreed, knowing that he's a great kid and that I would be able to help him review some Geometry.  These three kids are three of the best students that I've had the pleasure to work with.  

In fact, I have respectfully declined other parents' requests for tutoring.  I simply teach enough hours as is during my week.  At the same time, I realize how fortunate I am to have the ability to say no.  I recall that when I started tutoring as a 14 year old kid, I would occasionally hope that my Saturday afternoon sessions would get cancelled so that I can have the day off.  Now, I look forward to the sessions.  I'm more experienced, I know how to better pace the tutorials, and am more comfortable working with teens in an educational setting.  I reflect on my roots as a tutor and find it a privilege that this role has stayed with me for almost 20 years.

Link Crew 2012-13

This year's Link Leader tees.  It's already one of our favorites.  I also participated in this year's Link Leader training during the Tuesday/Wednesday of the week before school started.  Mr. C., Ms. Franco, and I led a smooth training.  Regrettably, I was unable to be at that Friday's Freshmen Orientation.  The word is that it was one of our best!  Way to go Link Crew!

Licensed to Teach

Two of my closest friends got this license plate frame for me from an auto show. I have yet to find anything worthy for this awesome frame. Maybe I'll find a picture of them and frame it with this.

Mr. Yip 8.0

The first month of school in my eighth year as a teacher went by very smoothly.  This year, my assignments are three sections of Algebra 2, one section of Algebra 1, and one section of AP Statistics. There are 36 students in each period.  As in past years, my goals are to be the best teacher that I can be, stay positive, and have a positive influence in my students.

I took a substantial amount of time off.  It was the most eventful summer that I could remember.  During the first month of the summer, I volunteered at the badminton club as an assistant coach for novice players.  The second half of summer, I was blessed with the opportunity to spend time with my aunt and uncle from Hong Kong.  Along with my mom, we took a trip to New York and Boston.  We also visited many local SoCal museums and dining spots.  Later, my cousin who is studying in Vancouver also visited.  With the rest of the family, we visited Santa Barbara, Solvang, the Hearst Castle, and San Francisco.  Other memorial trips included a concept at the Hollywood Bowl and brunch at the Queen Mary.

Time to get back to work.  Bring it.

‎2012 AP Stats Project (10) by Alex & Andrea

‎2012 AP Stats Project (9) by Alex & Andrea from rickykyip
Two senior students investigate a current issue.

‎2012 AP Stats Project (9) by Josh & Miranda

Stats on Prezi

Two members of our school's dance team investigate the popularity of social media outlets.